EDUCATION

Stephen M. Orlofsky

Partner

Princeton, NJ

v. +1.609.750.2646

f. +1.609.897.7286

Stephen Orlofsky leads the firm's appellate practice and is the administrative partner of Blank Rome's Princeton, New Jersey office.

Mr. Orlofsky concentrates his practice in the areas of complex litigation and alternative dispute resolution. He counsels clients throughout the U.S. in federal and state civil and criminal courts, both at the appellate and trial level. He has experience litigating, arbitrating, mediating, and serving as a special master in a wide variety of matters, including:

appellate litigation in state and federal courts

commercial disputes

securities

antitrust

patent and intellectual property

malpractice and professional ethics

legal ethics

electronic discovery

white-collar criminal defense

class actions in state and federal courts

internal investigations

environmental

ERISA

Mr. Orlofsky has extensive experience with regard to appellate matters both as a litigation attorney and federal judge. He is a former United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey who served in that capacity from 1996 to 2003. He also served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of New Jersey from 1976 to 1980.

Prior to leaving the federal bench in 2003, Mr. Orlofsky served as one of three federal judges on a 13-member Judicial Assessment Team which traveled to Iraq to evaluate the Iraqi judicial system to assist the Coalition Provisional Authority in reconstructing the Iraqi court system.

In 2005, he was appointed by the president-elect of the New Jersey State Bar Association to serve as the vice-chair, South Jersey, of the New Jersey State Bar Association's Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee. He served in that capacity from 2005 to 2007. Mr. Orlofsky was also appointed by the chair of the ABA Litigation Section to serve as a member of its Ethical Standards for Mediation Task Force. Mr. Orlofsky currently serves on the Uniform Law Commission, the national body that considers the adoption of uniform state laws, where he is one of New Jersey’s three Uniform Law Commissioners.

In 2008, Mr. Orlofsky was honored by the Camden County Bar Association with the Hon. Peter J. Devine Award for distinguished service.

Mr. Orlofsky was selected in 2000 as one of the “50 of the Finest” graduates of the Rutgers–Camden campus during the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Rutgers University–Camden.

Mr. Orlofsky served as a captain in the U.S. Army, Field Artillery, from 1966 to 1970. He was inducted into the U.S. Army Artillery OCS Hall of Fame (Durham Hall) on May 21, 1999.

From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Orlofsky served as the President of the recently formed Bar Association of the Third Federal Circuit.

Mr. Orlofsky is a member of the Panels of Distinguished Neutrals of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR). He has been named to CPR's National, Judicial, New Jersey, and Philadelphia Panels. CPR's Panels are a source of the most qualified neutrals for the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) of significant business and public disputes.

He manages to combine a masterful presence in the courtroom with a talented, scholarly outlook. —Chambers USA

Chambers USA ranks Mr. Orlofsky as a leader in the field of general commercial litigation, stating that he receives "extensive praise" from market sources and plaudits for his "extraordinary judgment, great courtroom presence, and excellent client skills." Chambers has also noted that "he manages to combine a masterful presence in the courtroom with a talented, scholarly outlook" and calls him a "tremendous legal talent." Sources say "he has seen everything one possibly can in terms of litigation and gives great advice."

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

Served as a Special Discovery Master in a complex New Jersey State Court RICO matter.

Argued and won the precedent setting case in the New Jersey Supreme Court that established the standards for immunity for 911 call centers in New Jersey.

Successfully defended several class actions brought under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the District of New Jersey.

Represented a commercial bank in connection with regulatory issues pending before a banking commissioner and related litigation pending in state court

Represented a manufacturer of plastic, wire, and cable in the first Superfund case filed in federal court in New Jersey, as well as related state court class action filed against the PRPs; and represented this manufacturer against insurance carriers in a dozen sites throughout the United States

COMMUNITY SERVICE & AFFILIATIONS

Mr. Orlofsky is one of New Jersey's three Uniform Law Commissioners and a member of the National Uniform Law Commission. He is a member of the Drafting Committee on the Electronic Records Act and serves as the enactment plan coordinator for that Act. Additionally, he serves as a member of the Committee on Federal Relations.

Mr. Orlofsky received the prestigious American Jewish Committee (AJC) of Central New Jersey’s 2010 Judge Learned Hand Award in recognition of his impressive leadership in the legal profession and the community.

In 2006, the New Jersey State Bar Association elected Mr. Orlofsky as one of its state delegates to the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates, the policy-making body of the association. He is a past President of the Third Circuit Bar Association, a federal circuit bar association, which encompasses New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the United States Virgin Islands.

Also in that year, he was elected to the American Law Institute as a member. The American Law Institute was organized in 1923 following a study conducted by a group of prominent American judges, lawyers and teachers. As stated in its charter, the purpose of the Institute is "promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work." The membership of the ALI consists of judges, lawyers and law teachers from all areas of the United States as well as some foreign countries, selected on the basis of professional achievement and demonstrated interest in the improvement of the law.

In April 2015, Mr. Orlofsky was selected as a recipient of the New Jersey Law Journal's 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award and profiled in the journal for his many significant accomplishments in the legal community and beyond.

In June 2015, Mr. Orlofsky was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary of the American Bar Association, for a three-year term.

Mr. Orlofsky frequently lectures in the areas of federal practice and procedure, professional ethics and professionalism, evidence, electronic discovery, and commercial and criminal litigation trial and appellate techniques. He serves as the Vice-Chair of the board of directors of Legal Services of New Jersey, Inc., a nonprofit corporation which provides legal services to indigents throughout New Jersey. He is an adjunct professor of law at Rutgers University School of Law - Camden, where he teaches a course in electronic discovery.

If you would like a copy of Mr. Orlofsky's full résumé, please e-mail Deborah Sigler at Sigler@BlankRome.com.

RECOGNITIONS

2015-2016,Litigation: General Commercial Law, listed in Chambers USA

AV-Preeminent®, listed by Martindale-Hubbell®

A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolades are based can be found here.

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